15mm/28mm MODERN WARGAMING BLOG: The next campaign we have planned is WW2. Following an airborne company through the Normandy campaign. To give more significance to the men each man has a name. The big picture will be dealt with on a large map, while each action will be fought at the platoon to reinforced platoon level.

Sunday, 6 March 2016

Still Crazy After All These Years (Part 2)

For this three-sided game (aka 'Black Prince Down'), the Regulars have a Scimitar AFV, and 4 WMIK Land Rovers (each with a fireteam of 4 and armed w/SA80's). The WMIKs have M2HBs and a pintle mounted GPMG). They are TQ/Morale D8/D8, Confident, with Body Armour. The official ROE are 'Only return fire at identified hostiles', but, privately, they have been told 'Shoot anybody you see who is armed'. They have 8 turns to rescue the Prince, and get off table.

Ronnie Kray (w/SA80, RPG 7V and body armour) and 2 teams of 4 (w/SA80's) are TQ/Morale D8/D8 and Confident. Their aim is to get the truck off table within 8 turns.

The Rowdy Rabble (w/AK74s, w/Molotov cocktails in close assault on vehicles) start with two teams on table, and the rest are treated as irregulars, emerging via hotspots. They are TQ/Morale D6/D6 and Confident; they have to prevent the Regulars from achieving their mission.

A mob by the road. Kray's men are in the factory.

Sitrep

The Scimitar led the column as it raced along the road, heading for the crash site. Spotting an armed mob in the woods by the side of the road, it opened fire with its main gun; one of their number fell, and the rest scattered in terror. The lead WMIK raced past the fleeing hoodlums and up the road. The wall by the road gave way to a chain-link fence, through which it identified more unfriendlies in military fatigues by a black Mercedes in front of the factory; the WMIK opened fire, but missed. The return fire from Kray's men (they had finally made it to the factory, but too late as far as they were concerned) was just as effective. (Ronnie looked at his RPG, and then again decided that there was too much fire power coming his way, and pulled his men back, through the factory and into the woods. They'd get their investment back another day, when things weren't so hot).

The cavalry to the rescue

The other WMIKs were close behind the first. Suddenly, from behind the red-brick building, a group of yobs with Molotov Cocktails charged into the road, but they were dispersed by a short burst from the top-mounted machine gun of the second vehicle. The lead WMIK could see a plume of smoke from the vicinity of the railway overpass bridge. The commander pointed, “That must be the chopper”. They could also hear gunfire from that direction.

Looking up the road - smoke rises from the helicopter

The Scimitar commander rushed forward crashing through the chain-link fence and opened fire with its RARDEN 30mm cannon at a mob by the gate, which quickly took cover.

Two WMIKs then moved up to the bridge, spotting a tail rotor. They could see a crowd on the opposite railway embankment, but were unsure if they were unfriendly. A debate ensued, which was finally resolved when the Scimitar then joined them by the bridge. The mob on the other side of the railway opened futile fire at the light tank. Having confirmed that they were, indeed, 'hostiles', the return fire from Scimitar and both WMIKs was punishing... (The commander of the tank had a surreal moment when he realised that they were using heavy force against their own countrymen, rather than against Malikastanis. However, when bullets pinged off the hull, he shrugged off the thought. In all the months in Malikastan nothing had ever pinged off his vehicle. He ordered his gunner to open fire...)

Meanwhile, further mobs appeared, from across the railway line, from inside the factory yard, and from down on the railway track itself. Movement was also spotted in the gardens of the houses to their right. Things were starting to look dangerous; the WMIK stationed outside the fence returned fire on the mob charging out from the factory, knocking two of them over; as they ran, their exit was hastened by more fire from the WMIK at the T-junction. One of the WMIKs on the bridge moved so it could see down onto the railway line, but the crew could not verify if the mob on the railway were belligerent, so they held their fire. The crew of the other WMIK on the bridge disembarked, and moved to the edge of the railway embankment to see if they could spot the Prince. They were taken under fire from a reformed mob on the opposite embankment; their fire, and that from the Scimitar blasted the mob to smithereens. The sound of heavy machine gun fire - supplemented with 30mm Rarden cannon - was almost continuous. (One of the WMIK drivers could not believe that so many armed and dangerous men could roam the streets of Grand Brexitia. What had happened to his country while he was away in the Middle East ? How could a 21st century, First World country, run by a bunch of coke-snorting, pig-molesting ex-Etonians, be reduced to this level of anarchy so quickly ?). Ammunition started to run low.

The fireteam reaches the Prince; hostiles gather in the factory yard and in the gardens

Covered by their mates in the vehicles, the fireteam on foot slid down the embankment, engaging mobs shooting at them from the far side, and from the gang on the railway line. Even when conserving ammo, their shooting was still too much for the armed civilians. They managed to make it to the wreck of the helicopter, and found the Prince and his friends, unharmed except for grazes and superficial cuts. Prince Roger himself was cowering behind the helicopter, and it took some effort to persuade him to scramble up the embankment, towards the parked WMIK. As they climbed, fire from the 'hostiles' lightly wounded one of the rescuers, but return fire caused the armed civilians to go to ground. Another large mob approached from the gardens of the houses with the intention of charging in to the Prince's protectors, but Scimitar cannon and WMIK fire knocked some down, and the rest took cover behind the walls. This enabled the Prince, his chums, and the fireteam to make it to their vehicles (one of the chums had to travel in another WMIK, as the first was overloaded; the Prince insisted on being first aboard, taking cover in the floorwell...)

A mob approaches from along the railway tracks.

While this was going on, more mobs closed on the scene. The WMIK at the T-junction spotted some movement behind them, but its machine gun fire missed. The exposed WMIK crew suffered wounds; one was a mere scratch, but the second was more serious. The vehicle was starting to resemble a Swiss cheese, with one dead, and one other out of action. The last unwounded man frantically manned the gun; the lightly wounded man took the wheel as the order to pull out came over the air. Shooting in all directions, the convoy pulled out and raced back to barracks, the Scimitar covering the rear. Prince Roger was safe.

The board does look amazing, though the nasty game creator made it feel like being a roach in a room full of jackboot stomping roach-haters. If I knew there had been an RPG in the play I would have been a tad more careful (and would have probably failed due to caution, sometime ignorance is bliss). I did not realise it was a 3-sided affair until I read the write-up, sneaky and nasty. My turn to be the nasty puppetmaster is coming!